Laughing Medusas

I woke to a soft caress this morning, fingertips lightly brushing against my shoulder. I could smell that scent that is distinctly you, a mix of your sweat and cologne, the smell that took three washings to remove from my sheets and still lingers on my comforter. I turned to face you, grateful that you had found your way back to my bed. Anticipating your arms, your skin, your mouth against me, I turned to face you and rolled into that familiar ache of emptiness when I saw nothing and realized that even the touch of my hand in the morning evokes memories of you.

~Asherah

When I remember my past loves, I do not remember the the things they were most proud of... I remember instead the scar on his chin he tried to hide with a goatee, the soft layer of baby fat that made her soft and pliable in my hands, the way her left breast hung just a little heavier than the right, the dark hair on his chest and stomach he vowed to have waxed when he had the extra cash, the way she would sometimes snort when she laughed, the moles that dotted his back, the fact he could never remember that my doorknob turns the wrong way. The things that made them human are the things that made me love them and the things I will always remember.

~Asherah

I am the one you cannot help but come to
even when you know you shouldn't
even when your honeymoon wasn't quite over
even when your wife begged you not to
even when she offered to do the things I do for you
even when she blamed herself
even when she knew your disgust was with yourself and not her
even when she threatened to leave
even when she left, pleading that if you would stay with her - she would stay with you
even when she came back because she couldn't live without you
even when she said she'd rather die than live like this

even now
as she lays in the bath her life flowing out of her filling the tub, wondering why she was never enough, knowing it was not your fault and believing that somehow she could have prevented it all

~Asherah